Yule Reparations
by MayorHaggar
Summary: Harry Potter had been a truly abominable Yule Ball partner. Years later, Parvati Patil decides it's time for him to make good.
1. Yule Reparations

**I.**

"So you're telling me that she just walked up out of the blue and demanded that you take her to lunch?"

"That's what I said, mate," Ron said. "I hadn't talked to her in at least two years, but she came into the shop during my shift and said that I owed her a lunch for being such a shitty date at the Yule Ball."

"Padma Patil said that? Really?" Harry asked in surprise. He didn't know Padma as well as her sister, whom he actually saw on a semi-regular basis, but she seemed too polite to speak so bluntly.

"She prettied it up, but that was the gist of it. I refused at first because, well, I figured Hermione would kick me in the bollocks if I didn't. But when I told Hermione about it that night she said that Padma was right, and I _did_ owe her for ruining her 'special night.'"

"I can't imagine Hermione being okay with her boyfriend taking another woman out to lunch."

"She came with us, actually. It wasn't a date or anything like that; Padma knows I'm with Hermione. The two of them arranged it, and the three of us had lunch at this fancy little cafe in Diagon Alley. Hermione made it clear that I'd be paying for all of us as an apology for the Yule Ball. Thankfully I make enough running Wheezes with George that it didn't hurt my Gringotts vault too much."

"That's strange. I mean, I get that you were a bit of a berk at the Yule Ball, but why would she bring it up after all this time? It's been like ten years."

"I dunno." Ron shrugged his shoulders. "She didn't really seem all that upset about it, to be honest. But she and Hermione agreed that you were just as bad, so you might want to set some of that Potter gold aside in case Parvati stops by soon."

"Very funny," Harry said. He rolled his eyes at Ron's smirk, but it was nice that his best mate had matured enough that he could joke about the gold Harry had inherited from his parents.

"Speaking of Parvati, Hermione wanted me to tell you that you better not try to get out of it if she does pay you a visit."

"She did, did she?" Harry said casually. He had a feeling he knew where this was going, but at least Hermione wasn't there to nag him herself.

"Yep. She spent several minutes ranting about how you only leave the castle to have dinner with us or at mum's, and even then we pretty much have to force you."

"I like my job," Harry said defensively. "Besides, this place is home to me. Always has been." He looked around at the familiar settings of the Great Hall. Normally he'd be sitting at the head table with the rest of the staff, but when the castle was all but deserted for the summer like this he liked to sit at the Gryffindor table like he had as a student.

"I know that, mate, and so does she. And we know you're a damn good teacher too. Hell, your lessons with the DA probably made you the second best Defense teacher I had, and you were only fifteen." Ron rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, a sure sign he was about to say something that made them both uncomfortable. "She's not wrong though. You and Ginny broke up, what, three years ago? How many dates have you been on since then?"

"I don't exactly keep count," Harry mumbled.

"Hermione does. It's five. Five dates in three years and never with the same girl more than once."

"There's a reason for that, you know. All of those girls saw me as the Boy-Who-Lived, the Conqueror of Voldemort, the Savior of the Wizarding World. Well, all of them except Luna, but we both realized we're better off as friends about five minutes into that date. The others walked in expecting a hero from a fairy tale and got a professor whose idea of adventure is a casual broomstick ride around the quidditch pitch."

"Parvati knows you aren't that guy though. She went to school with us for six years, and I know you run into her when you're in Hogsmeade. Does she ever treat you like a hero from a storybook?"

"No," Harry was forced to admit. As she had opened a very popular clothing and fashion shop in Hogsmeade a few years back, their paths often crossed when he ventured out into the village. "She's never acted in awe of me or anything. She just treats me like an old friend from school."

"See? Not every witch in the world looks at you and sees some celebrity."

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean she has any interest in dating me. Even if she sees the real Harry Potter, she might find him to be a boring bloke with zero fashion sense."

"She wouldn't be wrong if she did," Ron teased. He punched Harry in the arm good-naturedly, then adopted a serious expression again. "Look, nobody's saying you have to go out and party every time you have a free night like my brother Charlie does. Just don't give up entirely, yeah?"

"I haven't given up," he protested. "But if it'll make Hermione happy, you can tell her that I promise not to blow Parvati off if she does stop by."

"It will, mate," Ron said with a smile. "And it just might make you happy too, if you let it."

 **II.**

Sure enough, the Gryffindor Patil sent Harry an owl two days later demanding that he take her out to lunch to make up for his behavior during the Yule Ball (though judging by the tone of her letter, he took that to be a pretense more than any genuine lingering resentment.) He'd written back to agree, and through a series of letters they'd arranged to meet for lunch at Moretti's, a nice Italian place in the muggle section of London. It had been Parvati who suggested a muggle restaurant so there'd be less chance of someone recognizing Harry and disturbing them to shake his hand or ask for an autograph or something. Three of the girls he'd been set up with post-Ginny had very clearly wanted to be spotted out on a date with the Boy-Who-Lived, so this was an encouraging sign in his mind. Not that this was actually a date, he reminded himself, no matter how smug Hermione had sounded when they'd spoken a day earlier.

He'd arrived early to confirm their reservation and claim their table. His seat faced the door, which meant that he had a clear view of Parvati when she entered a few minutes after he sat down. While she hadn't gone all out on her appearance, she still looked very pretty in her casual pink dress. He suddenly felt woefully underdressed in his jumper and jeans.

"Hello, Harry," she said with a smile as she approached the table.

"Hello," he returned. He shot up out of his seat and pulled her chair out for her just before she reached the table. She smiled widely at the gesture.

"Chivalry isn't dead after all," she quipped as she sat down. Harry followed suit and returned to his seat only after she'd settled in. "We're five seconds in and you've already topped your performance at the Yule Ball." Harry felt his face flush ever so slightly. She noticed it too, and it only made her smile grow wider.

"Err, yeah, sorry about that," he said awkwardly. She chuckled and shook her head.

"You were a fourteen year old boy. Fourteen year old Parvati might have been very upset with you for ignoring her on what was supposed to be her big day, but twenty four year old Parvati knows that teenage boys aren't exactly tactful."

"Isn't that the truth," he muttered. She smiled at him knowingly.

"I guess that as a Hogwarts professor you interact with teens even more often than I do. Just remember: you were just as bad as they are."

"Worse, according to Minerva. She never passes up an opportunity to insist that I don't have it half as bad as she did when I was a student."

"I don't doubt it. Things were never boring with you around, Harry."

"You wouldn't say that if you saw what my life is like now. My visits to Hogsmeade are about as adventurous as I get nowadays."

"Not much could compare to fighting a Dark Lord on the adventure scale," she mused.

"Thank Merlin for that," he said, making her laugh.

"I guess my life is pretty routine these days too," Parvati said. "I have my shop of course, which I work very hard on. It doesn't leave much time for a social life though. Lavender always gives me a hard time about not getting out enough."

"Hermione and Ron do the same to me!" Harry exclaimed, suddenly feeling a kinship with his former schoolmate.

"You too? It's quite annoying, isn't it?"

"For sure," he said. "I know they mean well, but it wears on me after awhile. I mean, it's not like I'm not interested. It's just hard to meet the right person."

"Exactly!" she said, snapping her fingers. "It's not like I couldn't go out and find someone to shag easily enough. But that's not what I want. I want something..."

"Deeper," Harry finished. She looked across the table at him and smiled brightly, and he couldn't help but be struck by how beautiful it made her look.

"Exactly," she repeated. She continued to smile at him, and it did strange things to his insides. Things he hadn't felt since Ginny, before it had gone sour. The waiter arriving to take their order broke the spell, and as Harry skimmed through the menu he reevaluated the situation.

Maybe this was purely a casual lunch between old schoolmates, as Harry had believed. Or maybe Hermione was right after all. She would be insufferably smug if so, but that thought suddenly didn't bother him in the least.

 **III.**

Parvati had shown impeccable taste; the food was fantastic. The company was even better as far as Harry was concerned. Their occasional chats in Hogsmeade had already brought them closer than they'd been in their six years together at Hogwarts, but this lunch was the longest conversation they had ever had, and by a wide margin at that. It didn't feel like it, however. If anything time seemed to fly by from Harry's perspective. He couldn't remember ever feeling this comfortable chatting with anyone other than Ron and Hermione. They told jokes, reminisced about their times at Hogwarts, discussed their careers and attempted to one-up each other with stories about their failed attempts at dating. He was forced to concede that contest, as not even his tales about shameless Boy-Who-Lived groupies could measure up to the wanker who dated Parvati while secretly fantasizing he was really with Padma. It was the best date Harry had ever been on, if in fact it was a date. He fervently hoped Parvati viewed it as a date and would be interested in doing it again.

When the waitress came to clear the table, he ordered a dessert before she could even ask the question. The lunch had been extremely filling, but he was willing to gorge himself to extend this afternoon for as long as possible. Considering she ordered a dessert of her own and ate it at least as leisurely as he ate his, she seemed to feel the same way.

They continued to talk well after their desserts were finished, reluctantly paying their bill only when the dinner crowd began filtering in. Harry helped Parvati out of her chair, earning him another smile. The thought occurred to him that he would be willing to go to great lengths to make sure she kept smiling at him like that. She reached out and took his hand and they slowly walked out of the restaurant. He offered to escort her home but Parvati shook her head.

"Thanks for the offer Harry, but I have a few errands I need to run and some things to do at my store before I go home. I was going to take care of them earlier but we were here much longer than I expected."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your plans," he said. She shook her head rapidly.

"No need to apologize. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I had this much fun!" She gave his hand a little squeeze for emphasis.

"Me neither," he said, smiling bashfully. She smiled back, and he thought he detected a slight flush on her cheeks. "We should do it again sometime. If you want to."

"I'd love to." There was that smile again.

"Great. Are you free on Friday?"

"No," she said with a frown. "I have plans I can't get out of. I don't have any plans on Saturday night though."

"Saturday works for me too." He had actually committed to dinner with Ron and Hermione on Saturday but he had a feeling they wouldn't mind. They would probably encourage him to break their plans once they learned what he'd be doing instead.

"It's a date." She leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It had been an embarrassingly long time since he'd kissed anyone, which explained why he didn't react right away. He'd just begun to return the kiss when she pulled back.

"See you on Saturday," she said, smiling over her shoulder at him before apparating away.

"Can't wait," he said softly after she'd gone.

 _'Hermione and Ron are going to be over the moon when I tell them how today went'_ , he thought to himself. He slowly licked his lips, tasting a hint of Parvati's strawberry lip gloss. Perhaps they had had a point about him giving up on finding anyone, or at least not looking very hard. Even this opportunity had basically been forced upon him, but he didn't intend to waste it. If he had any say in the matter, he and Parvati would be seeing a lot more of each other from now on.

 **IV.**

 _Four months later_

"May I have this dance, m'lady?"

"Well I can hardly say no after you asked in such a gentlemanly way, now can I? Lead the way."

Harry took his girlfriend's hand with a smile, helped her up from her seat at the head table and led her out onto the dance floor section of the Great Hall. She was dressed to impress in fancy pink dress robes that accentuated her slender frame while remaining tasteful. He noticed several of the Hogwarts boys casting appreciative looks at her as he escorted her past them. One of the fourth year Hufflepuffs was staring a bit too obviously and received an elbow to the ribs from his none-too-happy date. Parvati noticed as well, and had to place her free hand over her mouth to mask her giggle.

"He's in _trouble_ ," Harry singsonged as he put his other hand on the small of Parvati's back.

"Like you were any better at his age," she said, rolling her eyes even as she grinned at him. She put her own arms around his shoulders, and they began to dance.

"Oh, I was worse. Much worse," he admitted freely. "I don't think I need to tell you that though."

"No you don't. You're much better now though. You haven't stared off longingly at another girl every five minutes, so this is a considerable improvement over the last time you asked me to the Yule Ball."

"Most of the girls here are underage," he pointed out.

"Like that would stop them from putting out for the Conqueror of Voldemort."

"Tempting as that thought is, I was rather hoping a more mature witch would put out for me tonight." Inwardly he marveled at his ability to calmly banter with his girlfriend while simultaneously moving with her on the dance floor. That he was too nervous to do so the first time he'd taken Parvati to the Yule Ball went without saying, but he doubted he could have done this even years later with Ginny. His comfort level said a lot about how great the last four months had been.

"Oh? Finally making your move on McGonagall?" Parvati deadpanned.

"Not funny." His face wrinkled in disgust, and she laughed.

"You're no fun at all, Harry. It's a good thing you're so cute."

"I'm also not a half-bad dancer, if you hadn't noticed."

"Oh, I have!" she exclaimed. "You haven't stepped on my feet once, and you're actually enjoying yourself. 1994 Yule Ball Parvati would be _so_ jealous if she could see how much fun 2004 Yule Ball Parvati is having with you."

"It's amazing what a difference a decade can make, isn't it?" he asked. She stopped grinning and suddenly looked quite serious. He experienced a brief moment of panic, but quickly relaxed when she stepped in closer to his body. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her against him.

"It really is," she whispered. She rose up on her toes ever so slightly and leaned in for a brief but passionate kiss in the middle of the dance floor. Harry was sure his students (especially the girls) would talk about this for days, but the thought didn't bother him. He was in love, and he didn't much care who knew it.

 _Originally written for the 2015 HP Rarefest on LiveJournal._


	2. A Vacation to Remember

_One year later_

"Back rub, please." Parvati smiled as Harry sat down behind her on the bed and promptly complied. He had surprisingly soft hands, and he knew from experience exactly what she liked. She closed her eyes and sighed, enjoying her boyfriend's deft touch.

This holiday had been exactly what both of them needed. She put in long hours running her clothing and fashion shop, and Harry was very dedicated to his job as the Hogwarts Defense professor. Even though they lived together in Hogsmeade and saw each other every day, they didn't get nearly as much time together as Parvati would like, and she knew he felt the same way. She'd been looking forward to his Christmas holiday from the moment the semester started, doubly so when he surprised her on her birthday by revealing he'd arranged for them to spend the break in Paris.

This was one of her favorite cities in the world, and she was delighting in sharing it with Harry for the first time. They'd been quite busy so far. He'd told her that he didn't care what they did here so long as they were together. That had earned him major sweetness points, but she wondered if he might not be regretting those words, because she'd led him along from one popular tourist attraction to the next (with plenty of shopping in between!) Even she would admit that they needed this break they were currently taking in their hotel room. She had a marvelous view of the Tuileries Gardens from where she sat, so it wasn't as if she wasn't enjoying her surroundings even now.

"How are you enjoying the holiday?" Harry asked, making her open her eyes.

"It's magical," she said. "I've always loved this place, but being here with you makes it so much better. But how are you enjoying it?"

"It's nice." She giggled at such a bland statement. "But really I'm just happy because I get to spend time with you. I could probably spend my holiday in a smelly quidditch locker room and have a good time as long as you were in there with me."

"I'm not sure if I should be flattered or disgusted. I guess I'll go with flattered, as long as you aren't imagining that Oliver Wood is in the locker room with us."

"Not a chance. You're all mine, Patil. Better get used to it," he said faux-pompously.

"Is that a threat?" she teased. Suddenly his hands, which had continued to massage her throughout their banter, stilled on her back. She groaned unhappily.

"No," he said, and his voice didn't sound at all lighthearted all of a sudden. "It's a promise."

The sincerity in his voice confused her, but the more immediate concern in her mind was getting him to rub her back again.

"That's nice and all, Potter, but you started something, and I want you to finish..." she began, breaking off as she turned her head to look at him and realized why he'd stopped. His hands were otherwise occupied. Well one of them was at least, because he was holding a ring in his right hand.

"Finish it? Gladly. Marry me, Parvati." His free hand clasped and gently caressed her own, and then he was slipping the ring onto her finger. She stared down at their hands dumbly, her brain struggling to process what was happening right now. After several long seconds passed with her just staring down at her ring finger with her mouth agape, Harry started fidgeting.

"Uh, Parvati? Are you gonna give me an answer?"

His obvious anxiousness finally snapped her back to reality. She looked up from their joined hands to his handsome face. There was nervousness there. She gazed into those emerald green eyes she adored so much and saw that he legitimately feared she might say no. Silly boy.

She didn't trust her voice at the moment, so rather than giving him a verbal answer she tackled him to the bed and poured everything she was feeling into kissing him. If she couldn't tell him how she was feeling, she would show it to him instead.

They didn't leave the room for the rest of the day.


End file.
